


Daughters of War

by hazelevesques



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 22:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2286300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelevesques/pseuds/hazelevesques
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reyna anxiously seeks information about Annabeth's time on the Argo II, while trying to keep a good face to her Roman army.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daughters of War

**Author's Note:**

> Several songs inspired me during the writing of these first few chapters. Initially Maps by Maroon 5, followed by Sweater Weather by the Neighborhood. All of these characters and circumstances belong to RR.

Reyna pushed the Roman army as far back as she possibly could, but even her determination to give the other camp the grace of time wasn’t enough to stop Octavian.  During the day, his soldiers wanted to power through, getting closer and closer to their Greek counterparts.   Octavian encouraged that ruthless mindset.  During the night, Reyna encouraged resting time.  Each evening, she would sit awake on her cot, listening for the sound of Octavian’s slowed breathing.  She had become an Octavian sleep expert, as disturbing as that was.  While he was asleep, she went on a mission of her own.  At first, she had just wandered in the direction of Camp Half Blood, trying to hear something, _anything,_ about Annabeth.  Only a few nights after she began this routine, she ran into trouble.  She was walking through a forest—the easiest way to Camp Half Blood.  She had stopped tracking her own steps, and didn’t pay attention to how far she was.  They saw each other nearly instantly.  A girl stepped out from behind a massive tree trunk, her position squared.  Reyna was struck with how she mirrored this other girl—they both had strong jaws and wide body frames.  They were about the same height, similar build, muscular.  As they each analyzed the other, they stepped closer little by little, circling defensively. 

Reyna cursed herself for coming without protection, or coming at all.  Word on Annabeth was important, but was it worth getting killed over?  The scent that had been comforting her for a week—the smell of pine and dirt—now sickened her.  It reminded her of what a failure she was becoming.  Reyna was smart.  Yet she had let a Greek demigod fuzzy her brain so much that she came out into the woods, on her own, halfway between Camp Half Blood and the temporary Camp Jupiter tents.  Alone.  She was alone.  “I’m not here to attack,” Reyna said calmly.  She might not have been the single most articulate praetor in history, but she was one of the more reasonable ones.  She rarely sounded emotional— no matter how she felt.  “I am not here on a Camp Jupiter mission, either.”  She watched the other girl look down   She looked doubtful.  “I am here on my own behalf.”

The Greek girl’s eyes danced.  “And who are you?  What reasons do you have for advancing towards Camp Half Blood?”  Her voice was harsh.  She was untrusting, and Reyna didn’t fault her for that.  She should have dressed differently, but her SPQR shirt was the most comfortable one she had.  How should she have know that _today_ was going to be the day she met someone on enemy lines?

Reyna took a breath.  It was now that she needed to weigh her options. She could refuse to reveal her intentions, and possibly fight.  She could come clean, and risk it being used against her at a later time.  Glancing at the moon, she imagined how Annabeth might look in the silver light.  Her free hand clenched into a fist.  It annoyed her that she was thinking about this now, when her life was possibly in danger.  She couldn’t afford to be having thoughts like these.  She settled on a vague response.  “I need information.”

Her opposite scoffed.  “Like hell you do!”  After some silence, the other girl asked again.  “What reasons do you have for advancing on Camp Half Blood?”  Her spear buzzed with electricity.  If Reyna attacked, she would be zapped. She would never admit it, but this scared her.

“I want to know about a girl,” she sucked her teeth, unhappy.  “You probably know her…  Annabeth Chase.”

Silence.  Reyna cursed herself for being too quiet. She would have to repeat herself. “I want to know about—”

“I heard you.  Why do you want to know about Annabeth?”  Her voice was rough, but the Greek lowered her weapon, and the buzzing stopped.  Her eyes narrowed.  “I’m not going to tell you where they are, if that’s what you’re getting at—just so your Roman army can double back and attack them while we’re all distracted!”  Reyna could have been making it up, but she swore the girl’s voice shook. 

Reyna mirrored her actions, letting her sword drop to her waist.  “Do you know if she’s okay?  I haven’t—I haven’t heard anything in some time, and I was just concerned about her—I mean, about the entire _Argo II_ crew—and I was wondering if you knew anything about her—them, I mean.”  There it was.  A flood of nerves, in the form of words, left her body.  Even just asking the question started to ease her pounding heart.

The two women stood in silence.  Reyna waited as she was obviously examined by the other camper.  It didn’t bother her, so long as she got her questions answered.  The night was still.  Reyna took this time to check out her Greek counterpart.  There were the basic things to notice, of course.  She had dark hair, woven into an expert French braid.  Her eyes glinted in the moonlight.    But there was also little things about this girl that Reyna hadn’t had the chance to see earlier.  Her Camp Half Blood shirt was worn out, with a hole in the right shoulder—she was definitely one of the older campers.  Her necklace, similar to the one Percy wore, had several clay beads on it.  Impulsively, Reyna glanced at her own signifier.  Her SPQR tattoo had black vertical lines to mark her experience in the camp.  The other girl only wore one other piece of jewelry: a necklace with an ‘S’ charm hanging off it.  It was made of what looked to be intertwined silver and gold. 

Finally, the Greek responded.  “They’re fine.  Alive, still.” 

It wasn’t much, but Reyna took what she could get.  Over the next few weeks, they would meet at precisely 0300 hours. Each time they met, they talked more and more.  It wasn’t until 2 weeks in that they introduced themselves. 

“Reyna Avila Ramierez Arellano, daughter of Bellona, praetor of Camp Jupiter.”

“Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, cabin leader of Camp Half Blood.”

In the months that followed, the women built a sort of friendship.  They progressively became less hostile towards each other, but they were never considered friendly.  Both being daughters of a war diety, they shared a similar mindset—keeping their potential enemies at a distance.  Regardless of her relationship with Clarisse, Reyna enjoyed hearing updates about Annabeth.  It wasn’t much, but she felt secure, knowing where the _Argo II_ was, how they were coming, the future plans.

As time passed, they forced themselves to meet less often.  Octavian was becoming suspicious.  He would pretend to fall asleep to catch Reyna sneaking away—which never worked.  Reyna had memorized his sleeping patterns over time. She knew very well the difference between a fake snore and a real one. On Clarisse’s end, her fellow campers were getting antsy—they wanted to know where she went every night.  News was slow.  News between Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter was slower.  News about Annabeth was the slowest.


End file.
